Abstract

Background

Rehabilitation according to Vojta is a neurophysiological method used to obtain reflex responses in muscles following stimulation of particular activation zones.

Objectives

This study aims to objectively evaluate the muscular responses following stimulation according to Vojta’s method. The possible routes of spinal transmission responsible for the phenomenon of muscle activation in upper and lower extremities are considered.

Methods

Polyelectromyographic (pEMG) recordings in the upper and lower extremities in healthy volunteers (N = 25; aged 24 ± 1 year) were performed to find out the possible routes of spinal transmission, responsible for muscle activation. The left acromion and right femoral epicondyle were stimulated by a Vojta therapist; pEMG recordings were made including the bilateral deltoid and rectus femoris muscles.

Results and Discussion

Following acromion stimulation, muscle activation was mostly expressed in the contralateral rectus femoris, rather than the contralateral deltoid and the ipsilateral rectus femoris muscles. After stimulation of the lower femoral epicondyle, the following order was observed: contra lateral deltoid, ipsilateral deltoid and the contra lateral rectus femoris muscle.

One of the candidates responsible for the main crossed neural transmission involved in the Vojta therapy mechanism would be the long propriospinal tract neurons.

Restorative Therapies is the designer of medical devices providing clinic and in-home restoration therapy. Xcite is the next in the series of FES powered physical therapy systems that started with the company’s hugely successful RT300 FES cycle.

FES is a physical therapy rehabilitation modality used to evoke functional movements and exercise not otherwise possible for individuals with a neurological impairment such as a spinal cord injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis or cerebral palsy.

The new Xcite FES system delivers up to 12 channels of electrical stimulation to nerves which activate core, leg and arm muscles. Easy to use sequenced stimulation evokes functional movement enabling a patient’s paralyzed or weak muscles to move through dynamic movement patterns.

“Xcite is a physical therapy system which provides a library of coordinated multichannel FES therapies for people with neurological impairments,” said Prof. David Ditor of Brock University, in Ontario, Canada, “After being involved in the development trials we are excited to see the system obtain FDA clearance in addition to the existing CE mark, Canadian and Australian approvals making the system more widely available.”

“Xcite is the first truly practical FES rehabilitation system of this kind that I have seen. In addition to combining several valuable neuro-rehabilitation interventions, functional electrical stimulation, mass practice and neuromuscular re-education, Xcite is portable and easy enough to use that it could be used in the patient’s home,” said Prof. Susan Harkema of the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, University of Louisville.

“In the context of rehabilitation influencing neural plasticity as a means for neural restoration, training in the home setting is an essential component of progress and I see Xcite as a great tool in achieving this,” concludes Harkema.

“Repetitive practice of task specific, strengthening and gross motor activities have long been a cornerstone of PT and OT programs for patients with neurological impairments or muscle weakness,” says Andrew Barriskill, CEO of Restorative Therapies. “Xcite is designed to be easily integrated into these traditional programs. Xcite enhances the impact of the traditional therapeutic activities that support neuromuscular reeducation.”

Xcite is the latest result of Restorative Therapies commitment to ongoing development of FES powered physical therapy systems designed to help people with neurological impairments maximize their recovery potential.

About Restorative Therapies
Restorative Therapies mission is to help people with a neurological impairment or in critical care achieve their full recovery potential. Restorative Therapies combines activity-based physical therapy and Functional Electrical Stimulation as a rehabilitation therapy for immobility associated with paralysis such as stroke, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury or for patients in critical care.

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DNS Bookletserves as a guide of basic principles of trunk stabilization and individual exercise positions for self-treatment according to Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization. Your clients can download the booklet for 1.99 Euros using the following link and view a sequence of photographs of DNS self-treatment positions with easy to understand instructions.

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…The nervous system establishes programs that control human posture, movement and gait. This ‘motor control’ is largely established during the first critical years of life. Therefore, the “Prague School” emphasizes neurodevelopmental aspects of motor control in order to assess and restore dysfunction of the locomotor system and associated syndromes…

…The daily training sessions were considered interesting and rewarding, and the training period was well worth the time and effort spent. The trainees experienced improvements in relaxation, breathing, strength, mobility, balance, walking ability and fine motor function. They found it important to be able to train on their own. They found it hard to explain to others what they were actually doing, and what happened in their bodies during training sessions…

…Our findings during the stimulation and the voluntary motor task performance prior and after the treatment provide the evidence, that the reflex locomotion elicited by Vojta therapy is associated with specific changes in cortical and subcortical brain activation when compared to the sham treatment…

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The International Vojta Society (IVG) is a professional society in which Vojta teachers from the fields of physiotherapy and medicine have joined forces internationally to promote Vojta principles in the early diagnosis and therapy of children and adults with cerebral palsy and other motor disturbances.